Marwar: Encyclopedia II - Marwar

The Pratihara clan of Rajputs, also known as the Gurjara-Pratiharas, established a kingdom in Marwar in the 6th century, with a capital at Mandor, 9 km from present-day Jodhpur. The ruined city of Osian or Ossian, 65 km from Jodhpur, was an important religious centre of the Pratihara period, and has a collection of Hindu and Jain temples of the 8th through 11th centuries.

The Jodhpur state was founded in the 13th century by the Rathor clan of Rajputs, who claim descent from the Gahadvala kings of Kannauj. After the sacking of Kannauj by Muhammad of Ghor in 1194, and its capture by the Delhi Sultanate in the early 13th century, the Rathors fled west. The Rathor family chronicles relate that Siyaji, grandson of Jai Chandra, the last Gahadvala king of Kannauj, came to Marwar on a pilgrimage to Dwarka in Gujarat, and on halting at the town of Pali he and his followers settled there to protect the Brahmin community from the raids of marauding bands. Rao (king) Chanda, tenth in succession from Siyaji, finally wrested control of Marwar from the Pratiharas. The city of Jodhpur, capital of the Rathor state and now a district administrative centre, was founded in 1459 by Rao Chanda's successor Rao Jodha.

In 1561 the kingdom was invaded by the Mughal emperor Akbar, and Rao Malladeva (ruled 1532-1584) was forced to submit, and to send his son as a mark of homage to take service under the Mughal emperor. When this son Udai Singh succeeded to the throne in 1584, he gave his sister Jodhabai in marriage to Akbar, and was rewarded by the restoration of most of his former possessions. Udai Singh's son, Gaj Singh (1620-1638), held high service under Akbar, and conducted successful expeditions in Gujarat and the Deccan.

The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who was far less tolerant of Hinduism than his predecessors, invaded Marwar in 1679, plundered Jodhpur, sacked all the large towns, and commanded the conversion of the Rathors to Islam. This cemented all the Rajput clans into a bond of union, and a triple alliance was formed by the three states of Jodhpur, Udaipur (Mewar) and Jaipur, to throw off the Mughal yoke. One of the conditions of this alliance was that the rulers of Jodhpur and Jaipur should regain the privilege of marriage with the ruling Sesodia dynasty of Mewar, which they had forfeited by contracting alliances with the Mughal emperors, on the understanding that the offspring of Sesodia princesses should succeed to the state in preference to all other children. The quarrels arising from this stipulation lasted through many generations, and led to the invitation of Maratha help from the rival aspirants to power, and finally to the subjection of all the Rajput states to the Marathas. Jodhpur was conquered by Sindhia, who levied a tribute of 60,000 rupees, and took from it the fort and town of Ajmer. Internecine disputes and succession wars disturbed the peace of the early years of the century, until in January 1818 Jodhpur was brought under British control.

Jodhpur became a princely state in the Rajputana Agency of British India. The state had an area of 90,554 km² (34,963 square miles), which included the present-day districts of Barmer, Jalor, Jodhpur, Nagaur, and Pali. It was bounded on the north by Bikaner state, on the northwest by Jaipur state, on the west by the British province of Ajmer, on the southwest by Mewar (Udaipur) state, on the south by Sirohi state and the Banas Kantha agency of Bombay Presidency, on the southeast by Sind Province, and on the west by Jaisalmer state. The Rathore Maharaja was the head of state, with an aristocracy of Jagirdars, Jamidars and Thakurs. There were 22 parganas and 4500 villages in the state.

In 1839 the British intervened to quell an insurrection. In 1843, when Maharaja Man Singh (ruled 1803-1843) died without a son and without having adopted an heir, the nobles and state officials were left to select a successor from the nearest of kin. Their choice fell upon Raja Takht Singh of Ahmednagar. Maharaja Takht Singh, who supported the British during the Revolt of 1857, died in 1873. His successor, Maharaja Jaswant Singh II, who died in 1896, was a very enlightened ruler. His brother, Sir Pertab Singh, conducted the administration until his nephew, Sardar Singh, came of age in 1898. Maharaja Sardar Singh ruled until 1911. The imperial service cavalry formed part of the reserve brigade during the Tirah campaign.

Marwar suffered more severely than any other part of Rajputana from the famine of 1899-1900. In February 1900 more than 110,000 persons were in receipt of famine relief. The kingdom had a population of 1,935,565 in 1901, a 23% decline from the 1891, largely due to the results of the famine.